Ai Iijima

Former porn star Ai Iijima found dead at Tokyo apartment

Wednesday 24th December, 12:40 PM JST

TOKYO —

Former television personality Ai Iijima was found dead at her condominium unit in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Wednesday afternoon, less than two years after she announced her retirement from show business, police said.

Iijima, 36, was found lying in the living room in casual clothes and with no obvious injuries, police said, adding they believe she either died of an illness or committed suicide. An autopsy will be conducted on Thursday.

Iijima’s body was found around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday by an acquaintance who paid a visit to the condo after Iijima had stopped responding to communications from her several days ago. The acquaintance had the resident manager open Iijima’s unit on the 21st floor of the condominium building.

Iijima gained popularity in the 1990s as a variety show host and for other roles. Her autobiographical novel ‘‘Platonic Sex,’’ published in 2000, became a bestseller and was made into a movie as well as a television drama.

In 2006, she made public that her health was not good due to a kidney disease and other problems. She announced her retirement in March last year, saying, ‘‘It is impossible to survive in the entertainment industry if I cannot find my goal and dream, and cannot keep trying.’‘

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Latest 15 of 133 Total Comments Show All

supercross1985 at 07:44 AM JST - 29th December

It is always sad when someone so young dies,at a time of year when most have the support of family and friends.Her childhood and family life were not good,I hope she had found some inner peace.RIP,let your friends remember your smile.
2020hindsight at 11:21 AM JST - 29th December

DXXJP

Like I say I dont have first hand knowlage of her life but I have a few vids of how she lived it.

So you don't approve of her being an AV star, but have no regrets about owning some AV videos? Talk about hypocrisy!
PASHA_51 at 02:13 PM JST - 29th December

May Allah bless her soul. So sad that she suffered from health problems despite having so big name in industry and big pocket money.
LostinNagoya at 09:21 PM JST - 29th December

RIP.

I do not understand all the fuzz about the JT headline. It may be not sophisticated, but it is much better than the plastic headlines you see in The Japan Times - which seems to be written by Japanese who can type in English. Those who are shocked, visit TJP and probably you will see something like this "kawai talent died embracing bear Pooh".
mikeAdazzy at 10:16 PM JST - 29th December

She may have done some mistakes in her past life.. but who has not ? Just give her respect that she deserve, and please stop this criticizing thing. May you rest in peace Ai chan.....
Clearsky54 at 11:58 PM JST - 29th December

I feel so sorry for this woman. I do not really know anything about her, but of what value is "former porn star"? No one, no one is a "star" in porn; that is a bad joke. No matter what reason a person gets involved in pornography, ultimately is a terrible thing-- yes, that's right, I am judging. She was a person who had a mother and father, maybe friends, maybe other family, I don't know. It's just such an insult that this is what she's left with "former porn star"; yeah, whatever, she was in some porn movies -- I'm sorry, people get one thing in their thick heads and cannot think anything else. Otherwise, I agree with LostinNagoya who says that TJT is written by Japanese who can type in English; except for articles it "imports" from "foreign reporters" or "foreign magazines" everything else in it can be summed up as follows: "he said with a smile"; "reckoned"; "critter"; "it will take two weeks to heal"; "wining and dining"; and other pointless "sayings".

May Ai-chan rest in peace and may she be remembered for a human being first, because contrary to some people's opinions, that's what she was.
Yuki_51 at 12:57 AM JST - 30th December

No one can judge another person's life? What rubbish. One needs to judge with care and compassion, but certainly judgments can be made.
hakujinsensei at 09:54 AM JST - 30th December

There is nothing to judge here except the inaneness of the comments. Is there a problem because she had sex? Because she had sex on tape? Because she got paid for it? There is not a woman alive that has had sex that has not done it to better her position either emotionally or financially. It was a job, nothing more and nothing less.

R.I.P
DanManjt at 12:27 PM JST - 30th December

Bummer.
BlackFlag at 02:23 PM JST - 30th December

There is not a woman alive that has had sex that has not done it to better her position either emotionally or financially.

hahahahaha
almxx at 05:52 AM JST - 31st December

This woman lived out her life just as GOD dictated it. This is what we all do.
Redhots at 06:54 AM JST - 31st December

"nothing mean about it, if you feel depressed about her death because you watch a lot of AV then a box of tissues is a useful thing to recommend. good for crocodile tears too. yes she died, RIP. lots of other people died during the 2 minutes it took me to type this. RIP them too."

Ah, here we go again. The standard "everyone dies so why feel sorry for someone you've never met before" cliche. How about this: the article is about Ai, not anyone else who is dying at the moment, which means that -people are going to post about her and no one else. Don't pretend to be so ignorant that you don't understand this. Don't be so ignorant that you can't be sorry that another human being passed away much too young.
BlackFlag at 12:14 PM JST - 31st December

dont be so ignorant that you can't read and selectively ignore all context to my post.
BlackFlag at 12:20 PM JST - 31st December

I said RIP several times but found the tears flowing from some posters here shockingly incosistent with their heartlessness/ignorance of far more tragic events and some posts just absurd. you don't get it, I don't care
KumaNiku at 09:45 AM JST - 3rd January

This woman lived out her life just as GOD dictated it. This is what we all do.

Not if you're a free thinking athiest who realises that a person is more than a pre-determined drone who must have blind devotion to fear-mongering 'god'.

That aside, I found her very interesting and quite insightful with more than a few of her comments and opinions, even if I didn't agree with all of them. A sad loss indeed.